SiC (silicon carbide) is expected to be a next-generation material for semiconductor devices. SiC has excellent physical properties with the band gap being threefold, the breakdown electric field strength being about tenfold and the thermal conductivity being about threefold as compared to Si (silicon). By taking advantage of these properties, a semiconductor device, which has a high breakdown voltage and a low loss and is capable of being operated at a high temperature, can be provided.
It is desired to provide a low-resistance contact between a p-type impurity region or n-type impurity region and a metal that forms an electrode from the viewpoint of improving the properties of semiconductor devices having a MOS structure, such as a MOSFET (metal oxide semiconductor) and an IGBT (insulated gate bipolar transistor).